Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE:MGY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE:MGY) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.5455.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MGY. Zacks Research upgraded Magnolia Oil & Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in a research report on Monday, February 16th.

Insider Transactions at Magnolia Oil & Gas

In other news, CEO Christopher G. Stavros sold 119,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.29, for a total transaction of $3,513,452.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 883,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,880,409.68. This trade represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Edward P. Djerejian sold 18,000 shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.98, for a total value of $521,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 110,425 shares in the company, valued at $3,200,116.50. The trade was a 14.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 338,954 shares of company stock valued at $9,911,733 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Magnolia Oil & Gas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Magnolia Oil & Gas during the 4th quarter worth about $1,141,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 7,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 1,449 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in the fourth quarter worth approximately $260,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas in the fourth quarter worth approximately $329,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Magnolia Oil & Gas by 111.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 146,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,200,000 after acquiring an additional 77,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Trading Down 0.0%

Magnolia Oil & Gas stock opened at $31.03 on Friday. Magnolia Oil & Gas has a 12-month low of $19.09 and a 12-month high of $32.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.76.

Magnolia Oil & Gas (NYSE:MGY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $317.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $322.18 million. Magnolia Oil & Gas had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 24.79%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Magnolia Oil & Gas will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Magnolia Oil & Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Magnolia Oil & Gas’s payout ratio is 38.37%.

Magnolia Oil & Gas Company Profile

Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE: MGY) is an independent exploration and production company focused on the acquisition, development and optimization of onshore oil and gas assets in South Texas. Headquartered in Houston, the company concentrates its efforts on the Eagle Ford Shale, where it holds significant working interests in key producing counties.

The company’s core operations center on horizontal drilling and multi-stage completions designed to extract light crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs).